How well NETWORKED is your Recruiter? Specialty Search Firms definitely take the lead

We live in a world of increasing specialisation. This is nowhere more true than in the field of recruitment. Whether you are looking to hire, or be hired, you owe it to yourself to seek out and align yourself with a Recruiter who is zeroed in on your particular focus

Why?

Perhaps most importantly, because getting a job, or finding that PERFECT CANDIDATE, is all about NETWORKING with the right people in the know. In order to maximise the effectiveness of a search, one wants– and absolutely MUST – be aligned with the Recruitment firm (or firms – two at the most) whose network most closely matches the area of need. What does this mean? Good Recruitment firms are extremely talented and have worked long and hard to hone their art to be highly effective when put to use in the right way. In the right partnership (the wrong combination of Recruiter and client /candidate is deadly), the results are amazing — and worth every penny. What Recruiters do for business and the value they bring companies seeking that hard to find talent, is terrific. Recruiters work hard to develop highly valuable and hard-to-mine relationships through layers and layers of contacts and leads that bring them to exactly who they need in specific vertical markets – It’s a complicated job if done properly.Any Recruiter worth their salt spends a large part of their time developing a savings bank of contacts for ongoing candidate development for their clients from the passive candidate market to be of use months or even years later. For example, Manufacturing Procurement Specialists, Retail Merchandising and Brand Management experts, Outsourcing and Telecom Procurement gurus who are in very industry specific niches are where the real demand is. Recruiters in the know understand that a Monster, Workopolis or any other jobboards just can’t yield the results demanded by both job seekers and Talent Acquisition Specialists looking to connect with each other.

More and more, boutique search firms like Argentus (because there are excellent experts in Finance, Sales & Marketing and IT) are being sought out by both employers and candidates precisely because we know what we are talking about. We rely on the REFERRAL which is KING in our world. Clients and candidates are referred by others because we get the job done quicker and better. Why? Because our network is deep and strong — and specialty Recruiters work on improving what they do every single day. We can, and do, run circles around large generalist firms which try to be all things to all people…

Many recruitment firms, particularly the larger ones, think that size gives them strengh – not so. They advertise their strengths in many different areas. In truth, no firm can be good at everything (to think so is just silly) — every firm tends to have one, or perhaps a handful, of key areas where they are strongest. The other areas represent a form of “opportunistic” recruiting, a place to reach the low hanging fruit – to hopefully clinch the right candidate for the right job … but there isn’t any true area of expertise.

You wouldn’t go to a doctor with an accounting question. Similarly, why would someone deal with a Recruiter with a real flair for Finance or Marketing if they are seeking expertise in Logistics, or looking to hire someone with Supply Chain Management.

How do you find that perfect recruitment partner? By talking to them and listening carefully to what they say. Ask them how they develop and maintain their network of contacts. Who do they network with and how? The question you’re really asking is, “How do I know that you know the people who are looking to hire employees with skills such as mine? If you are an employer, ask them “how do I know that you can quickly find me the best people to fill the positions for which I need to hire? You want to know how long it takes to fill their jobs – be very specific. Find out what jobs the person you are going to be working with filled most recently – you might be surprised with the answer and you might want to just move on.